The Irish will celebrate with beer, not cannabis, on St. Paddy’s.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Given the origin of the holiday, we write to update you on the regulation of cannabis in Ireland. Historically, Ireland has had a conservative cannabis policy due to the nation’s heroin epidemic, among other factors. View Full Post

Careful!
The Washington Legislature concluded its 2018 Session last week, and joined Oregon and California in “banning the box” when it comes to employment applications. Specifically, Washington’s new law, dubbed the “Fair Chance Act” (the “Act”), prohibits employers from looking into any criminal history of potential employees at the point an applicant first applies for a job. View Full Post

If you’ve been following the news lately you’ve probably noticed that that the Trump administration, along with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), have not exactly been getting along with the state of California. Just last week the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Golden State, claiming that three of its laws interfere with the federal government’s authority to regulate the country’s immigration system. View Full Post

Josephine County skipped a step.
In the past six months, we have closely followed the efforts of Josephine County, Oregon, to ban cannabis farming in its rural residential 5 (RR-5) zone (see our coverage here and here). Just last week we mentioned that a coalition of local growers (“Petitioners”) challenging the local ordinance finally had their day in court, presenting their case to Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals (“LUBA”). View Full Post

The Washington Court of Appeals Division II has ruled that Clark County can lawfully ban the retail sale of marijuana within its unincorporated areas. In a unanimous decision issued on March 13 in Emerald Enterprises, LLC v. Clark County, the court rejected arguments that the Washington Uniform Controlled Substances Act (USCA) preempts a Clark County ordinance banning the retail sale of recreational marijuana in unincorporated areas so long as the federal government listed marijuana as a controlled substance. View Full Post

On Thursday, SB 1409, which proposes changes to California’s industrial hemp laws, was referred to committee. This piece of legislation proposes some much-needed updates to California’s industrial hemp laws. In our experience, states with adult use marijuana regulations, like California, tend to move more slowly building out their industrial hemp programs, which often come in as an afterthought. View Full Post

In our last installment, we discussed the reasons why Oregon’s cannabis sales tax should not apply to cannabis seeds. So what do you do if you believe that a retailer wrongfully charged you sales tax on seeds or any other cannabis item? View Full Post

Our Barcelona office continues to keep tabs on Spain’s vibrant cannabis industry, which is different than anything going on in the United States, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. Last week, the 15th annual Spannabis conference showed that the country’s enthusiasm for marijuana has not diminished in the least, and that Spaniards continue to adapt and push forward within a unique state environment. View Full Post

Is the tide finally coming in for gray market California cannabis?
For state-by-state legalization to succeed in the long run, state and local governments often need to take significant enforcement measures against existing “gray” cannabis markets to ensure that there’s an even playing field for licensed operators who face the financial pinch and responsibility of comprehensive licensing regulations and robust taxation. View Full Post

The Oregon legislature concluded the 2018 session last weekend. As we wrote last month, because 2018 is an even-numbered year, this was a short session lasting just 35 days. We predicted that not all four proposed cannabis bills would pass and that is exactly what happened: the proposed legislation on “special events” for marijuana licensees quickly fell by the wayside. View Full Post

Crafting laws and regulations is more art than a science. The authors of initiatives, legislators, and administrative agencies who create and implement rules to legalize medical and recreational marijuana are bound to get some things wrong. This may be due to political pressures, competing interests, and the simple fact that marijuana is prohibited under federal law. View Full Post